This oak tree is no more than 5 feet from the path. I walked past it dozens of times, never once really seeing it against the busy forest background. Until one morning, when the fog muted the background enough to make the oak tree stand out. [Talk about being in the right place at the right time with the right atmosphere.]
Feedback Requests
First impressions? If you were in my shoes, what would you have done differently?
Pertinent Technical Details
1/1250 sec at f/9, ISO 1250, 100 mm. [It was early morning. Still quite dark. And a breeze was shaking the branches.]
f/9 was a compromise f/stop to ensure all the branches on the tree were in focus without also degrading the impact of the fog too much.
Lightroom Classic. Denoise helped a lot. Saturation and brightness on the greens and oranges were increased using the color mixer panel - to increase the color contrast in what would have been a fairly muted image.
My first thought was: Oh, I know that. We have grassy heathland here, and there are lots of prickly bushes and crooked little trees
Photographing in the fog has also proven successful for me. This way, the tree is the focus, and its special character comes across well. You did a great job.
Some ideas that come to mind: a vignette could work well.
Another idea would be to photograph such a tree like a silhouette, which would also bring out its character. (At dusk against a cloudy sky)
Franz: The fog did a great job of separating this little guy from the BG. My first impression was “Charley Brown Christmas tree.” Pretty nice lemonade here. >=))>
@Franz, Good catch on seeing how this unassuming tree stood out. Great balance. I like how the lighter areas in the grass behind the tree lets teh fog blend into that part of the image and creates more flow and interest. Nicely done.
I’m glad you liked my “New Kid On The Block” fog image.
Metaphorically speaking, I’m allergic to vignettes, so I don’t “spice up” my images with them. But I know quite a few photographers who can’t share an image unless it has some kind of vignette, even if it’s just a long one edge or a couple of the corners of an image.
On the other hand, I added your silhouette suggestion to my bucket list of things to try out on upcoming golden hour photo adventures.
Franz,
Thank you for your open response. I appreciate it. If you ever use a vignette, you might want to try different colors. I’m uploading an example with a white vignette.
Pretty nice lemonade here. >=))>